Small Changes Make a Difference for Search

Usually, when I show you a "before" and "after," there's a big difference. Not in this case. The site above is the old look of Dr. Michael Wiederkehr's website, and the one below is the new one.





Here are the changes:

• The name of the doctor and the clinic, both things patients are likely to search for, are prominent now.
• The header is short enough to be read at a glance.
• The other information from the original headline is in a bulleted list of short phrases -- again, easy to read at a glance.
• The remaining text on the homepage combines keywords people will be likely to use with a clear, simple statement of the doctor's main message about his new clinic. The other details have been moved to an inside page for people who want to know more.
  

I'd have moved the "Online Form" section to a less prominent place, but the designer balked at that. The upper left corner is the first place most people look at a website, so I like to see the unique selling point or call to action there -- the high-rent stuff, if you will. Nonetheless, the eye-catching photo and use of color probably draw the eye to the main message well enough to overcome the drawback of the placement.

We also changed the titles, the meta descriptions, and the content on the inner pages -- again, without design changes.

The new site should be more effective for search and for visitors, without affecting the look of the site at all. As of this writing, the changes are only a few hours old and the doctor's site has moved above the fold on the first page of Google for a search on his name.